Balkans

Sweden and their problem with hand grenades

The last few years have seen a significant increase in the use of hand grenades for violent crimes in Sweden. The police have responded to several gang-related incidents involving grenades, including two grenades thrown into a nightclub in May, 2015 and a grenade exploding inside a restaurant in April, 2016. In January of this year, […]

Serbia-Kosovo train row escalates to military threat

The attempt by a train/moving Serbian heritage exhibition, to move into Kosovo have been seen as a provocation by Kosovars and they prevented it from crossing the Kosovo border. After reports that the tracks were mined, The Serbian side issued a warning that if anything happens to the train and it’s crew they will respond with force. […]

Where will Russia invade next?

Russia’s new, asymmetric approach is perhaps best exemplified by its state-run nuclear contractor Rosatom’s strategy of creating security vulnerabilities in Europe. A recent report from a think tank in Finland – where Rosatom partly owns a nuclear power plant being built in Pyhajoki – suggested that the Kremlin is striking deals such as these to create dependencies in other countries. Separately, Lithuania has said it may file a lawsuit over the poor-quality construction of the Astravets nuclear power plant, which is being built by Rosatom in neighboring Belarus with no supervision and at a very low cost. Lithuanian officials are worried that Rosatom is using substandard Russian security systems that are likely much weaker than their Western equivalents – a state of affairs that analysts believe could pave the way for a nuclear disaster. Recent reports that at least ten workers died in mysterious circumstances while working at Astravets, and that a 330-ton reactor shell was dropped thus triggering an emergency situation, have hardly reassured Vilnius. Outside of Europe, Rosatom is also playing a very delicate role in Iran’s nuclear program, working on the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant while the Obama administration tries to preserve its controversial Iran nuclear deal.

Italy breaks up ring smuggling Syrian refugees to Western Europe

The probe began in September last year after an Italian was arrested in Hungary “while driving in a vehicle with several illegal migrants”, Eurojust said in a separate statement. Italian police said the smuggling ring picked up migrants who had reached Hungary, and from there they were moved on toward Germany, Austria, and more rarely to France and Italy.